He graduated in 1969 and moved to Ireland, where he has remained, apart from a brief spell in North Carolina in 1985 undertaking a fellowship at the National Humanities Center.
Now a Fellow Emeritus of Trinity College Dublin (appointed 2011), he commenced his time in Ireland as a lecturer in history of art at Trinity College in 1969, where he spent the majority of his career except for his time in North Carolina and as a Fellow at the Institute of Irish Studies at Queen's University Belfast between 1975 and 1976.
Upon his retirement from university life in 2010, he had been the head of the School of Histories and Humanities at Trinity College for two years, having been awarded full professorship in 1990.
[1] Stalley has provided his services to a number of public bodies, including acting as a member of the Irish Architectural Archive,[8] on the governing board of the Dublin Institute of Technology (2002–2004), as a council member at the Society of Antiquaries of London (2001–2004) and as foreign advisor to the International Center of Medieval Art (New York) for three terms, the last being 2002–2005.
[9] As well as contributing, Professor Stalley has also used photographs from the library in his work, e.g. an image of Gloucester Cathedral in his article 'Innovation in English Gothic Architecture: Risks, Impediments, and Opportunities for British Art Studies in June 2017.